PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEWStrictly on the surface, ‘The Platters Rock’ just doesn’t sound right. During the mid-to-late 1950s, the ultra- polished vocal group was the epitome of cool, velvet-smooth harmonizing as they cranked out an avalanche of smash ballads under the supervision of manager Buck Ram. Filmmakers cast them as the relatively safe and sedate antidote to the otherwise steamy sounds dished up in the memorable films ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ ‘The Girl Can’t Help It,’ ‘Rock All Night,’ ‘Carnival Rock,’ and ‘Girls Town,’ their segments allowing overheated teenagers a chance to to. They’d started out as an R&B vocal group cool down a bit in their sweaty theater seats. before magnificently crossing over to the pop realm, and that early training never deserted Yet a close examination of their mammoth them altogether. catalog for Chicago’s Mercury Records reveals a surprising number of up-tempo The quintet’s unusual four-guys-and-one- gems that entirely legitimize the concept of gal lineup was influential in itself, mirrored this collection. You may not recognize all by a number of African American vocal of the titles at first glance, but taken as a groups that followed in their wake (most whole they confirm that The Platters could notably Smokey Robinson’s Miracles). But indeed rock whenever Ram allowed them very few outfits could boast the presence of 5 a stratospheric lead tenor the equal of The Bass singer Herb Reed was the first Platters’ Tony Williams, whose powerful, member that we now revere as a Platter to PREVIEWgymnastic vocal flights approximated a ride come into the fold. Born in Kansas City, on a soaring magic carpet heading straight Missouri on August 7, 1928, he harmonized for the heavens. The group survived in a church choir before relocating to Los Williams’ 1960 departure for a solo career, Angeles at age 15. After an Air Force hitch, but it took a few years for them to Reed sang in a local chapter of The Wings reestablish themselves as reliable Over Jordan choir while washing cars, hitmakers, venturing in a more overtly soul- pumping gas, and driving a jitney cab to pay oriented direction during their second the bills. Second tenor David Lynch came incarnation. next. He was born in St. Louis on July 3, 1929 and arrived in L.A. in 1942, then Like many of their contemporaries on the served in the Navy. early ‘50s Los Angeles R&B vocal group scene, the lineage of The Platters in their Reed, Lynch, and the Hodge siblings were pre-fame period is a convoluted mess. The hired by Federal Records A&R man Ralph crew that eventually developed into The Bass to chant the title phrase and provide Platters first assembled in 1952 without a handclaps on local tenor sax titan Big Jay solitary member present that ended up in McNeely’s frenetic Nervous Man Nervous the group during their hitmaking years. in June of 1953. Ralph introduced the group They started out calling themselves The to Tony Williams, signed to Federal by Bass Flamingoes (no relation to The Flamingos after Williams competed at one of the out of Chicago) and included Cornell amateur shows that Bass and deejay Hunter Gunter before he moved on to form The Hancock staged on Monday evenings at the Flairs as well as Jody Jefferson, future Club Alabam in Watts. But the producer was Penguin Curtis Williams, and brothers Alex short on ideas as to how to market a young and Gaynel Hodge. black tenor who sounded to him like a 6 modern version of former Ink Spots front stack of wax at the Hodges’ L.A. home) did man Bill Kenny. Determining that vocal plenty of rocking over the course of their PREVIEWgroups were happening more than solo handful of Federal recording sessions. The singers, Bass elected to pair the promising first one happened on September 15, 1953 newcomer with the quartet that he used to at L.A.’s Radio Recorders, with Herb, David, back Big Jay. Tony, and baritone Alex Hodge behind the mic and Bass at the helm. The Reed-led jump A recent arrival in Los Angeles, Samuel E. Hey Now was half of their Federal debut, but ‘Tony’ Williams had been born in Elizabeth, the other three numbers committed to tape New Jersey on April 5, 1928. He too was an that day, all fronted by Williams, were taken Air Force veteran who had sung for three at considerably more docile tempos. years in Special Services before returning stateside and trying to click as a singer Ram credited Hayes, who he was managing around Jersey. Tony’s older sister Bertha at the time, with hipping him to her younger beat him to R&B stardom in L.A. Billed as brother’s prodigious vocal skills. Upon Linda Hayes, she answered Chicago pianist hearing him sing Trees and My Buddy, Ram Willie Mabon’s R&B chart-topper I Don’t was convinced of his talent and suggested Know with her sassy Yes! I Know (What that Tony link up with a group. Williams You’re Putting Down), which did very well replied that he was already in The Platters. on John Dolphin’s Recorded in Hollywood That’s how Buck joined forces with the group label, climbing to #2 in early 1953 on that he would be inexorably associated with ‘Billboard’s’ R&B ‘Juke Box’ chart. Hayes for the rest of his life. Ram began coaching hit again the next year on Don Pierce’s The Platters, polishing their harmonies and Hollywood Records with Take Me Back. channeling their talents into more commercial directions than mere R&B. He’d The newly minted Platters (Reed certainly been in show business long enough brainstormed the name while poring over a to know how to proceed on that front. 7 PREVIEW from left: Paul Robi, Herb Reed, David Lynch, Tony Williams, Zola Taylor and Buck Ram 8 Samuel ‘Buck’ Ram was born in Chicago to bring Zola Taylor into The Platters to on November 21, 1907. He studied violin provide a perky female counterpoint to the PREVIEWuntil he hurt his hand playing football, then male contingent. Born March 17, 1938 in switched to saxophone. But his family L.A., the Watts resident was a day shy of 16 insisted that he get his law degree, and in the first time she recorded with The Platters 1933 Ram passed the bar in California. Buck on March 16, 1954, yet she’d recently cut never pursued a legal career; music was his her own single for the Bihari brothers’ RPM passion, and he wrote songs in New York label, a cover of Jo Stafford’s then-current and worked as an arranger for popular jazz pop smash Make Love To Me. While bands of the day, including those of Ina Ray attending Centennial Senior High School, Hutton and the Dorsey brothers. His co- composing credits include two timeless blockbusters: Bing Crosby’s sentimental 1943 smash I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams) and The Three Suns’ dreamy 1944 classic Twilight Time. After recovering from a 1951 nervous breakdown, Ram formed a Los Angeles-based talent management company, Personality Productions. None too impressed with anyone in The Platters apart from Williams (he would become particularly contemptuous of Reed as time went on), Ram took them on as clients anyway. One of his first moves was Zola Taylor 9 Zola had been singing with The Queens, a weird in an endearing way that it deserved pioneering girl group headed by Cornell to see light of day. PREVIEWGunter’s sister Shirley, until Ram inducted her into The Platters. Hodge’s brief tenure in The Platters abruptly ended that spring when he was It’s generally assumed Ram was writing busted for laying a marijuana joint on a under the nom de plume of Jim Williams friend (when the pal was nabbed by the cops, when he penned Beer Barrel Boogie, one he identified Alex as its source). Hodge of the two jump items Federal picked from ended up with Gaynel in The Turks, who The Platters’ second session as their next cut the ’55 West Coast hit Emily for John single. Reed fronted it as well as Roses Of Dolphin’s Money label. Ram tried to snag Picardy on the other side, a driving revival The Lamplighters’ Al Frazier as The Platters’ of a British song that was popular there new baritone, but Al stayed put, during World War I. It was the first old pop recommending Paul Roby as an alternative. standard the group tackled. Spicy bongos Born August 20, 1931, New Orleans native punctuated Love All Night, half of the other Roby painted houses when he wasn’t single from the date with Lynch front and exercising his vocal cords. For unknown center. reasons, he changed the spelling of his surname to Robi when he came aboard. The Platters waxed their first version of Ram’s soaring ballad Only You (And You With the classic lineup now fully in place, Alone) at a May 20, 1954 session in L.A., most of The Platters’ final L.A. session for but it was shelved at the time (Reed’s weird Federal in September of ’54 was up-tempo, whistling all the way through sure didn’t and Lynch was the focal point of the day’s help). The whole date was initially banished three rockers. The Latin-tempoed Shake It to the vaults, though the minor-key jump Up Mambo and a peppy Voo-Vee-Ah-Bee Humble Bumble Bee, led by Herb, was so were paired as one single, while Maggie 10 Doesn’t Work Here Anymore, penned by backing at the session convinced Ram to Lynch and Taylor, was issued next.